Economic woes spur public discontent in Iran's capital

Tehran

Published: October 5 2012 - 3:00AM

THE first outbreak of public anger over Iran's collapsing currency and other economic maladies jolted the heart of the capital on Wednesday, with riot police violently clamping down on black-market money changers, hundreds of citizens marching to demand relief and merchants in the sprawling bazaar closing their shops in protest.

Iran's official media said an unspecified number of people, including two Europeans, had been arrested in the turmoil, which was documented in news photographs, at least two verifiable videos on YouTube and witness accounts.

Economists and political analysts in Iran and abroad said the anger reflected the accumulated impact of Western economic sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program, as well as the government's inability to manage an increasingly acute economic crisis.

It came a day after Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said at a televised news conference that the plunge in the value of Iran's currency, the rial - which has fallen by 40 per cent against the US dollar this past week - was orchestrated by ruthless currency speculators, the United States and internal enemies of Iran. He urged people to stop selling their rials for dollars and warned that speculators faced arrest.

But Mr Ahmadinejad offered no new solutions to arrest the slide in the rial, which is a major inflationary threat and has become the most visible barometer of Iran's economic travails.

Witnesses described cat-and-mouse chases between riot police officers, who were on motorcycles and armed with tear gas and batons, and money changers and their customers, who had to scatter.

Anger spread to Tehran's grand bazaar, where many merchants closed their stores. NEW YORK TIMES

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/world/economic-woes-spur-public-discontent-in-irans-capital-20121004-2724z.html